From around the corner of a bookcase Alfons came into view. Minerva involuntarily stiffened, Severus glared at the newcomer poisonously.

"Why, good morning, Minerva, Severus," Alfons greeted them with an innocent expression on his friendly face. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"We could say the same to you," replied Severus in a voice dripping with venom. "What is your business here, Vereiha?"

"Well, that isn't a very nice way to ask..."

"If it has somehow escaped your notice, I am not a very nice person," Severus interrupted, disgusted by the younger man's fake offended tone. "However there is a line between cynical and savage."

"I don't understand what you..." Alfons's words trailed off as he watched Minerva flip the pages of one book carelessly. She had decided to leave Severus to deal with Vereiha.

Then everything happened very cuickly. Just as Alfons was going to continue, Minerva hissed quietly and looked at her finger where a small paper cut made a drop of blood trickle out. At the sight of the red liquid, the look in Alfons's eyes turned wild and he lunged at Minerva who withdrew in scare. Severus cast himself between the two of them, keeping the vampire forcefully away.

"Minerva! The garlic!" Severus shouted, while holding on to Vereiha who struggled to get free from his grip.

It took a couple of seconds for Minerva to understand what was asked from her. But when she did, she grabbed her wand and levitated the garlic towards the men. Before the bulb could even hit him, Alfons shrieked in disgust and horror, and fled from the library.

Minerva intended to follow him, but Severus held her back.

"We must follow him, Severus," Minerva justified, pulling her arm free from the Potions Master's grasp. "He's insane! He will kill someone!"

"He's only after your blood," Severus explained calmly. He watched silently as the witch tried to steady her breathing.

"You're right," Minerva said after a while. She realized with annoyance that she was blinking furiously to prevent the tears from falling from her eyes. "I can't believe this is who he really is," she said quietly, looking away from Severus's face. "He seemed such a nice, lovely man before... I thought we were friends."

"You most certainly were," Severus agreed. "The Northern European vampire only attacks the person closest to him in his heart."

Minerva sighed sadly. "And there is no way we can help him?"

"No." Severus spat out the word like helping the vampire was the last thing he would like to do. "Though if you had paid more attention and interest you would have noticed it all sooner."

"I know you warned me," Minerva agreed, not happy to say that the Potions Master had been right whilst she hadn't. "I was blind."

"I agree," Severus said in a bitter tone. "Even his name "Vereiha" means "the lust for blood" in Estonian, which is the native language to a small country in the North of Europe."

"It does?" Minerva was surprised. "I never paid any attention to his name."

"I noticed." With that, Severus turned towards the bookshelves again, and Minerva stepped to where the garlic had fallen on the floor.

Madam Pince would not approve if they left a mess behind after leaving, so she bent down to pick the bulbs up. When she was close enough though, the strong smell made her head spin, and she yanked her hand back as if she had touched something extremely hot. Without quite understanding what was happening, she collapsed on the floor, panting heavily.

The next moment Minerva saw something that shocked her even more than her uncommon behaviour near garlic. Severus was kneeling next to her, his face clouded with worry and his movements cautious to not harm the witch in any way.

"Are you alright, Minerva?" he asked, in a voice much softer and more concerned that she had ever heard him speak in. "What happened?"

Not quite able to take in the unusualness of the scene, Minerva whispered feebly, "The garlic."

Severus understood instantly what she meant. He sent a firm glance at the garlic near them on the floor and, casting a silent spell, made the plant disappear.

Minerva rested her head against the floor when she realized she could breathe more freely now. She then felt Severus's hand against her skin, gently brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.

"You should be feeling better soon," he said, sliding his hand behind Minerva's head. With his other arm around her, Severus brought Minerva into a sitting position and, realizing that the witch was lost somewhere between asleep and unconscious, he pulled her cold body against his protectively. "Alfons will pay for this," he whispered, embracing the half-asleep woman in his arms.